Black as Pitch
by Bookworm1063
Summary: What happened when the Mage asked Nicodemus to make a deal.


**Nicodemus**

It woulda been a nice day, today. Go outside, have a smoke, take in the scenery, such as it was in the middle of London. Woulda been, if not for daft old Davy.

Remembered him from school, I did. Few years ahead of us, but he was always going on about his reforms and revolution and such. Never thought he'd take it this far- fucking crazy, he is. Must be, to try something like this.

He came to the bar, swaggering in like he owned the place, cocksure of himself as ever. Walked right up to me and asked for a moment of my time, like I wasn't in the middle of a game.

Which is how we ended up here. Drinking gin and talking.

"Nicodemus Petty," Davy says now. "It's been a while. I hope you're well?"

"Well enough," I say. My business ain't none of his business, but no one ever gained anything from pissing this one off. Stubborn as fuck, he was. "What brings you here, Davy? No one in a place like this is going to give a damn about your reforms. Most would just as soon kill you as listen."

"I need you to make a deal for me," Davy replies. "That's what you do, isn't it?"

"What do you want, and what are you paying." It wasn't a question- if he wanted it bad enough, he'd ask, and he'd pay.

"I want a band of these vampires to attack the Watford School of Magicks, and I'm offering everyone in this building free run of the city. No interference from me."

I could only stare for a moment. Never thought he'd try something this bold, I have to say. "I guess you'd be inviting us in, then."

"Of course."

"I won't lie to you, Davy," I say, leaning forward. "A lot of the vampires in this bar would be very tempted by an offer like that. But you don't have the authority to pull it off."

"Not yet, I don't. If this attack does what I anticipate, everyone in the World of Mages will realize how right I was. They'll be begging me to lead them. I want you to target the nursery, right before the start of term- you can make that happen, can't you, Nicodemus?" I recognize that look. The madness in Davy's eyes. The intensity.

"I could," I say. "But I won't. I won't send death to Ebeneza's door. Not unless she asks for it."

Davy's expression darkens, his eyes gleaming in that mad way again. "You're sure?"

"Positive," I say. "Get out of here, Davy. Make your deal with someone else."

Davy got up, the scowl on his face as pronounced as I remember it from his school days. "You may regret this, Nicodemus."

"I doubt that," I say. "You leave Ebb out of whatever you're planning, understand? I have connections. Don't think I don't know about the baby you left at a care home in the city five years ago. My silence for Ebb's safety. It's the only deal you'll get from me."

I thought Davy was gonna explode. Face bright red, fists clenched. I'd never seen anything like it.

"You and your thugs," he says at last, "leave the boy alone. He is more important than you know. Don't go digging, either, Nicodemus. Leave. It. Alone."

"And my sister stays out of…" I wave my hand. _"This?"_ Davy jerks his head up and down, just once.

We shake on it, and he leaves. Leaves me sitting at the bar, thinking. Thinking I better warn the headmistress, if anything. Let her deal with this. Ebb'll let me into Watford if I ask- I'll get her a message. To save lives, she'll let me in.

o-o-o-o-o

To this day, Ebb, I never looked for the kid. Never kept tabs. But on that day last Christmas, I had my suspicions. Looked like Lucy Salisbury, he did. The Mage's girl, before she left. We'd all heard the rumors. A child involved.

I swear on my own corpse, that was her kid in the bar that day, here with Fi's nephew. The Mage's kid.

Wonder if he knows.

o-o-o-o-o

**Natasha**

With only a few weeks left before the start of term, I'd elected to return to Watford early this year. In all honestly, if I had to listen to one more of Fiona's stories, I was going to spell her with **Cat got your tongue **and push her down the staircase at the family manor. It was a terrible example to set for my son, so we left early.

Basil was sitting on the rug in my office, playing with some LEGO bricks from the school nursery and laughing whenever one of his creations broke into several chunks of colorful plastic. It was raining, and the top of the Weeping Tower feels surprisingly cozy today. I sit back in my comfortable leather chair, sighing in contentment. _Everything is perfect right now._

A loud knock sounds at the office door, and I raise my wand, casting a quick _**Come in, come in**_to allow them past the wards. I assume it's one of the other professors, probably here with a complaint that I'll have to pretend to listen to.

Instead, Nicodemus Petty walks into the room.

_**"Good fences make great neighbors!" **_I shout, the barrier spell springing to life between the vampire and my son. He raises his hands in surrender, backing away. Basil drops his Legos and crawls toward me; I scoop him up and place him behind my desk. Then I level my wand at Nicodemus. "What the hell do you want?"

"Relax," Nicodemus says. "I'm just here to talk. I came to warn you."

I can't hold back the wild laugh, my confusion and fear springing from my throat in a torrent of sound. "You're here to warn me. _You_."

"Yes," he practically hisses. "You gave my sister a job, let her stay where she wanted. I owe you, and if there's one thing I'm not in the business of doing, Mistress Pitch, it's owing people. Especially people like you."

I hold back the stream of curses and spells that are dying to pour from my lips. "I don't want anything from you, Nicodemus. How did you even get in here? Your sister let you in?"

"Yes, after I told her what I'm about to tell you. So sit down and shut up," the vampire spits. I can't believe the nerve of him- I'm a Pitch, and he's a vampire. The two just don't mix. I could torch him before he has time to draw another breath.

"Whatever you have to say had better be a matter of life and death, Mr. Petty," I say. "Or this will end very poorly for both you and Ebeneza." His face pales.

"I swear, this is important- Merlin's oath and everything."

"As if I'd believe that, coming from you. Talk."

"I was approached by another mage, asking me to send a team of vampires to attack the Watford nursery," Nicodemus says. "I told him no, said he'd need to find someone else. He's probably doing just that. You've got yourself an enemy, Mistress Pitch- his name ain't worth my life, especially considering that I don't actually like you. But I'd watch my back, were I you." He starts to back toward the door, then stops. "Tell Fi I miss her."

And then he's gone, and the only sound in the room is my son, crying quietly from the ground behind my desk.

o-o-o-o-o

_A few weeks later_

_August 12, 2002_

**Natasha**

I couldn't see them, but I could hear them.

A half dozen or so of the creatures, prowling down the halls of my school, toward the nursery. The same nursery where I'd left my son that morning, on my way to a meeting with a few of the teachers. I'd seen the vampires sneaking onto the grounds from a classroom window.

The vampire in the lead broke down the nursery door, and the screaming started immediately. Terrified children. The pleading of Mistress Mary.

I race in just in time to see one of them pick up my son.

_No._

My spell sends flame racing through the air, incinerating two or three of them before I feel the sharp pain in my neck. One of the beasts had crept up behind me.

_I will not live as one of you. _

"_**Tyger, Tyger, Burning Bright!" **_

In the instant before my spell takes hold, burning me and the remaining vampires into ash, I see the one holding Basil sink his fangs into my son's throat.

I used my last second to direct the flame away from him.

I used my last thought wondering if I'd made the right choice.


End file.
